CANADIAN OPEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Michelle Wie is tied at 106th with nine others.
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Wie opens with 75 at Canadian Open
STORY SUMMARY »
EDMONTON, Alberta » Michelle Wie shot a 4-over-par 75 in the opening round of the Canadian Women's Open yesterday and is 10 strokes behind leader Laura Diaz.
The 17-year-old Wie had two double bogeys, the first on the par-4 12th, and another on No. 9 to close her round. She birdied the first hole.
"I just had two bad holes," Wie said.
"I had a lot of birdie opportunities today. I made a couple mistakes out there, but I was hitting my driver long and in the fairway and had a lot of birdie opportunities. I definitely see myself being able to shoot a lot under par, so we'll just have to make it happen tomorrow."
Wie averaged 269.50 yards off the tee, but hit just six fairways and eight greens in regulation. She needed just 27 putts yesterday.
Diaz shot a bogey-fee round and made a 33-foot birdie putt on the par-4 first hole.
Kelli Kuehne and Kyeong Bae are a stroke back at 66.
Defending champion Cristie Kerr opened with a 69 and Lorena Ochoa, the LPGA's top-ranked golfer, shot 70.
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Associated Press
EDMONTON, Alberta » Laura Diaz shot a bogey-free 6-under 65 yesterday to take the first-round lead in the Canadian Women's Open, while 17-year-old Michelle Wie opened with a 75 to drop 10 strokes back.
Diaz, coming off a second-place tie Sunday in Sweden in the European tour's Scandinavian TPC, made a long birdie putt on the par-4 first hole -- her 10th hole of the day on the Royal Mayfair course.
"It was just really fun for me to make the 33-footer," Diaz said.
"It's been what I've struggled with, so it was nice to see that go in. It puts me in a good frame of mind going into tomorrow."
Wie, making her first appearance in the event, closed her late afternoon round with a double bogey on the par-4 ninth. She also had a double-bogey 6 on No. 12, a bogey on the par-5 third and a birdie on the par-4 first.
"Who wouldn't be frustrated today, right?" Wie said.
"It's a very frustrating round because I felt like I was driving good and I had two bad holes.
"I mean, I played very consistently aside from that, made a lot of good par saves. I've just got to break through and shoot a really low score."
Kelli Kuehne and Kyeong Bae opened with 66s, 2005 winner Meena Lee topped a group at 67, and Paula Creamer and Juli Inkster shot 68s.
Kuehne has missed the cut in eight of her last nine tournaments.
"Have you seen my year?" Kuehne asked. "Just one day at a time. I've got some things I've got to go work on practice-wise. I'll go out tomorrow, add them up when we're done, and keep going."
Defending champion Cristie Kerr had a 69.
"I didn't putt as well as I would like to," said Kerr, the U.S. Open champion. "I had a lot of chances out there for birdie and I missed a couple of short putts.
"I have a lot to work on, but with all that being said I shot 2 under and I'm only four back at this point and it's only Thursday, so there's a lot to be positive about at this point."
Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa opened with a 70 in her first round since winning the Women's British Open at St. Andrews.
"I hit the ball really good, especially with the irons. Not so good with my driver," Ochoa said.
"It was kind of like an up-and-down round, but I'm pleased I finished in the red numbers and all that matters is to be in a good position for the rest of the tournament."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Morgan Pressel studied the green on No. 2 at the Royal Mayfair Golf and Country Club during yesterday's first round of the Canadian Women's Open.
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MacKenzie leads Wyndham
GREENSBORO, N.C. » Will MacKenzie would be a natural for the X Games. Now he's out to prove there's room for a kayaking, snowboarding surfer in the sometimes stuffy world of golf.
MacKenzie shot an 8-under 64 yesterday to take a one-shot lead over Lucas Glover, Steve Marino, Brian Davis and Jeff Overton after the first round of the Wyndham Championship.
MacKenzie, who spent a more than a decade away from the sport, nearly made a hole-in-one and had nine birdies to offset one bogey in taking an encouraging first step toward the second victory of his career.
"People might think that since I quit golf for a while and lived the life of an outdoor enthusiast that, you know, I break the mold, and I'm sure I do," MacKenzie said. "I want my peers to respect me as a golfer, and I think most of them do, but (I) also like to cheer them up a little bit and do silly things like stand on my head from time to time because that's what I like to do."
Seven players -- Carl Pettersson, John Merrick, Todd Hamilton, Todd Fischer, Greg Kraft, John Huston and 2003 winner Shigeki Maruyama -- were two strokes back on a steamy day at the 7,333-yard Forest Oaks Country Club course where temperatures were high and scores were consistently low. After the opening round, 79 players -- or, more than half of the field of 156 -- were 3 under or better.
Former Kaneohe resident Dean Wilson and Punahou alumnus Parker McLachlin opened with 2-under 70s.
Two share lead at The Tradition
SUNRIVER, Ore. » Mike Reid and Mark McNulty shot 6-under 66s yesterday to share the first-round lead in The Tradition, the Champion Tour's fourth major of the year.
David Edwards was a stroke back, and Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and Bruce Summerhays shot 68s at the Crosswater Golf Club in the high desert of central Oregon.
Reid's 66 was his lowest score since March.
Scandinavian Masters
STOCKHOLM, Sweden » Australia's Scott Strange shot a 6-under 64 to take the first-round lead in the Scandinavian Masters, an event he only got into when David Drysdale withdrew because of a neck injury. Swedish amateur Fredrik Qvicker and England's Sam Walker opened with 65s on the Arlandastad course.